Channah Levin: A Great Woman of Jerusalem

King Solomon’s
famous tribute to the “Woman of
Valor” is found in Chapter 31 of
the Book of Proverbs. The
following verses from this
tribute relate to the themes of
this letter:

“She opened her hand to the poor
and stretched out her hands to
the destitute.” (Verse 20)

“She opened her mouth with
wisdom, and the teaching of
loving-kindness was on her
tongue.” (Verse 26)

“Charm is deceit and beauty is
vain; a woman who reveres Hashem
brings praise upon herself. Give
her of the fruits of her
handiwork; and let her be
praised by her very own deeds.”
(Verses 30, 31)

In this letter, I will introduce
you to a great tzadekes –
righteous woman: Channah Levin.
She was also the wife of a great
tzaddik, Rav Aryeh Levin,
who was often referred to as Reb
Aryeh, and I hope to write about
his greatness in a future
letter.

This letter is dedicated to the
memory of my mother and teacher,
Udel bas Yosef (Adeline Oboler).
Her yahrzeit – the
anniversary of her passing – is
on the 24th of Adar,
which this year falls on
Wednesday, March 10.

Dear Friends,

Channah Levin, who passed away
in 1952, was a beloved and
respected chareidi woman who was
known for her great devotion to
acts of loving-kindness and for
her strong faith. The following
stories can serve as examples:

During her era, economic
conditions in Jerusalem were
usually very difficult, and
beggars often made the rounds in
search of food. The majority of
the Jews of Jerusalem, including
Reb Aryeh and Channah, were of
very limited income, yet they
tried to help these
poverty-stricken individuals who
were driven to begging. Channah
Levin did more than just give
them food; they were invited to
eat at her table just like the
members of the family.

In addition to the children of
Reb Aryeh and Channah, there
were other children living in
the Levin home or who just came
for meals, such as orphans or
children whose parents were
temporarily unable to take care
of them. Despite the extra
burden on her, Channah welcomed
each child cheerfully and
lovingly. This hospitality took
place even during those periods
of the first half of the 20th
century when food was scarce in
Jerusalem.

There were students of Torah who
were engaged to be married but
who could not afford a wedding
hall. The Levin home therefore
became the setting for the
wedding ceremony, and there the
guests were served by their
smiling hostess, Channah. Like
most people in Jerusalem, they
did not have a large house, so
how were they able to
accommodate all the guests? I
believe that the answer can be
found in the following ancient
teaching which we discussed in a
previous letter: When there is
unifying love, many people can
be in one place and not feel
overly crowded.

Channah also managed her own
personal tzedakah fund from
which she gave secretly and
anonymously to needy people. She
never even told Reb Aryeh the
names of the people to whom she
gave.

Reb Aryeh was in the habit of
saying that all of his good
qualities came to him from her
strength. She never complained,
and she had a power of faith
that knew no bounds. Reb Aryeh
once said, “If not for her, I
could not possibly have
withstood the days of hunger
during the First World War.” And
he added, “When it came to
trusting the Holy One, Blessed
is He, she was greater than I
was; she surpassed me.”

In later years, Reb Aryeh often
told of the troubles during the
First World War, when starving
people literally collapsed in
the streets of Jerusalem. Food
supplies were limited, and
during this chaotic period, many
people couldn’t even afford to
buy food. The family of Reb
Aryeh and Channah was also
suffering. Once, their young
children were sobbing piteously;
they had eaten nothing in two
days. There was, however, one
possible source of help. There
was one wealthy man in Jerusalem
for whom Reb Aryeh had done
favors in the past; and now,
during the war, it was his
practice to lend money to people
in need. At his wife’s request,
Reb Aryeh took several valuable
holy books that he had and went
to this man’s house to ask him
for a loan against the pledge of
the volumes. To Reb Aryeh’s
surprise and dismay, the man
simply and utterly refused. Reb
Aryeh asked, “But why do you
turn me away when you lend money
to others?”

The man replied, “To others I
must lend, because they know I
am wealthy, and if I refuse they
will resent it and bear a grudge
against me. But as for you, I
know you will hold no hatred in
your heart against me if I
refuse to give you a loan.”

Filled with utter despair, Reb
Aryeh returned home as penniless
as before. Seeing no way out, no
hope left, he shut himself in
his room and gave way to bitter
tears. “Because I won’t bear a
grudge of hate in my heart,” he
cried, “they refuse to lend me
anything, and I must be
condemned to starve with my
family?” Gently, his wife
Channah came over to him with
words of comfort and hope:
“Aryeh, Aryeh! Where is your
Jewish faith? Where is your
trust in the Almighty? Just
think a moment why that rich man
would not give you any money. Is
it because he does not have any?
We know he is wealthy. Is it
because he won’t give any loans?
We know that he lends to all the
people in need. Is it then
because he will not trust you?
You know that last month you
went to knock on his door at
midnight, walking barefoot in
the streets of Jerusalem because
there is not even a pair of
shoes in your house, in order to
return to him a gold coin that
you found in the house after he
had changed some money for you
here into smaller coins.

“Very well,” she continued, “he
knows that you are honest. Then
why will he lend you nothing? We
have to judge a person
favorably. So what shall we do
when we can find nothing
favorable or good in what a
person has done? We must
conclude that something out of
the ordinary is going on here.
And so it must mean that Heaven
prevented that rich man from
lending you money, so that your
help should come from somewhere
else. Aryeh, ‘Cast your burden
upon Hashem, and He will sustain
you’ (Psalm 55:23).”

Reb Aryeh grew calm and stopped
weeping. He understood that his
wife was right. He had to draw
strength from his faith.
Incredibly, a short while later
the postman came knocking on the
door, bringing a letter from
America. Reb Aryeh opened the
envelope and found a ten-dollar
check inside (worth then many
more times its value today).
His amazement grew all the
greater when he read the letter
that came with it:

The writer recalled that several
years earlier, when Reb Aryeh
happened to be in Petach Tikvah,
a man had turned to him and
said, “You look like your dear
departed grandfather. I knew and
admired the man”, and so they
departed in friendship. Now it
turned out that this American
Jew had passed away; and in his
will he had left instructions to
send a check for ten dollars to
Reb Aryeh.

Just now, at this dark hour of
his life, the money arrived. Reb
Aryeh realized how right his
wife was: It was all Heaven’s
doing, so that his rescue should
come from a different source.

One of their young sons died,
and during the seven days of her
mourning, two women came to call
and offer solace. They were
quite jarred, however, by the
calmness of this young mother
during her mourning. As the
afternoon wore on, Channah
excused herself and went to the
side to say the afternoon
prayers. Her two visitors took
the opportunity to hold a
conversation in Russian, certain
that the Yiddish-speaking
Channah would not understand a
word. In their talk, they agreed
that she could not be quite
right in the head. Otherwise,
they concurred primly, how could
she take the child’s death so
calmly?

Her prayer concluded, Channah
rejoined them, and to their
surprise, she began to speak
with them in flawless Russian,
for she was an educated and
accomplished linguist. She
explained to them the following
teachings of the Jewish faith
regarding the death of close
kin: The death occurs by Divine
will; the soul of the departed
person lives on in another realm
of existence; and excessive
grief (giving way to despair) is
therefore inappropriate.

“It would seem,” Reb Aryeh used
to say, “that she was stronger
than I was in submitting to the
yoke of Hashem’s sovereign rule
and accepting suffering.”

She never raised her voice to
her children, although at times,
they drove her to anger, as
children will. When they were
very difficult, she would mutter
in Yiddish, “You should only be
well!” If some of the children
began wrangling and squabbling,
she would simply take hold of
them and say, “Children, I beg
of you: Don’t quarrel!”

As her family recalls, her life
was like a praise-song to
Hashem. She relished every
moment of her life as His
precious gift, even when her
last illness brought pain. When
she said her daily prayers, she
was in exalted enthusiasm with
sublime happiness.

Opposite her window, there was a
small synagogue for Yemenite
Jews. Even in the coldest
weather, they would open their
window in homage to her, so that
she could hear their prayers and
join in the responses.

Especially toward the end of her
life, she achieved an inner
peace and utter tranquility,
despite all the illness and
pain. She therefore became a
source of great inspiration to
all who knew her, including her
doctors and nurses.

Once she told Reb Aryeh that she
had a very disturbing dream; and
she implored him to take her to
the holy mystic Rav Shlomo
Elyashav, to whom they were
related by the marriage of their
children. It later became clear
that the dream revealed to her
that the day of her leaving this
world would be in 1952.

And so it was; in 1952, she left
this world. In far-off America,
before the news of her passing
arrived, her daughter-in-law saw
her in a dream. The tzadekes,
Channah, was dressed in her
special Shabbos clothes, walking
in peace and serenity, and
entering a beautiful garden
where Rav Elijah, the famous
Vilna Gaon, stood at the
entrance to welcome her in. The
woman awoke in agitation and
related the dream to her
husband, the son of Reb Aryeh
and Channah. He felt mournful
and grieved, and a few hours
later, a telegram arrived from
Jerusalem, informing him that
his good, pious mother had
passed on.

Reb Aryeh grieved for his
beloved wife, and the following
are excerpts from a tribute to
her memory that he wrote soon
after he lost her:

“In the Name of Hashem: My heart
is in grief and my spirit
mourns. For how shall I find
consolation for my great
misfortune when my greatest
treasure, my crowning glory was
taken from me? ...Who could ever
describe her devotion and
goodness? Another like her is
hardly to be found – so pure of
spirit, with a heart as wide in
generosity as the entrance to a
palace, with a sensitivity of
loving-kindness and compassion
that strove to give and help
every step of the way. She had a
cheerful smile for everyone, and
spread out her compassion to
reach every living being

“.… Above all, she watched her
tongue, to a most extraordinary
degree. Her pure precious spirit
returned to its place of origin
on high, as clean and spotless
as on the day it descended into
the world, but more shining,
sparkling and radiant; more
grace-filled and pure.”

As the years went by, his
longing for her grew stronger
and stronger. He once told Dr.
Israel Eldad: “Physical details
about her, even her physical
appearance, become blurred and
fade away. But to the same
extent, her qualities of
character shine even more
brightly in my memory.”

Dr.Eldad visited Reb Aryeh, the
widower, on Purim, as Reb Aryeh
was his rabbi and teacher. Dr.
Eldad noticed the picture of a
beautiful young girl standing on
his table, and he asked. “Whose
picture is that”?

Reb Aryeh told him that it was a
picture of his dear departed
wife, and he explained why it
was now on the table: “Today is
Purim. Everyone is happy and
rejoicing. So I too, when I gaze
at her portrait, have pleasure
and joy.”

May the loving deeds and strong
faith of this great tzadekes
of Jerusalem continue to be a
source of merit, blessing, and
inspiration for all the Family
of Israel.

And may all the Family of Israel
be blessed with the light, joy,
and shalom of Shabbos.

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See
below)

P.S. The above information is
found in the biography of Reb
Aryeh Levin, “A tzaddik in our
time” by Simcha Raz. It is
published by Feldheim: